STARKVILLE — Time will tell if the rest of college baseball agrees with what Mississippi State baseball coach Andy Cannizaro has been saying for months: Brent Rooker is the best player in college baseball.
Neither will have to wait that long for the same question within the state of Mississippi.
Rooker and Cannizaro will be at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in Jackson Monday for the awarding of the Ferriss Trophy, given annually to the state’s best college baseball player. Rooker was named a finalist earlier this month alongside Delta State’s Zach Shannon and a trio from Southern Mississippi: Taylor Braley, Matt Wallner and Dylan Burdeaux.
“I’m excited about it,” Rooker said. “It’s really cool honor to be in that group with four other guys that are really, really good players. It’s going to be a big honor for me and I’m looking forward to it.”
Rooker ended the regular season as the Southeastern Conference leader in batting average (.415), home runs (20), RBI (73), doubles (28) and slugging percentage (.873). His 28 doubles set a new MSU single-season record.
Gridley, Mangum enjoy new spots
What was brand new as recently as Tuesday is now a proven commodity.
Tuesday was the first time Cannizaro debuted a switch he had been thinking about for weeks, switching usual leadoff man Jake Mangum and three-hole hitter Ryan Gridley in the lineup.
Neither disappointed in their new roles. In three games against LSU, Gridley collected five hits, scoring three runs and driving in three more. Mangum took advantage of the increased RBI opportunities offered by the 3-hole, driving in five on his four hits.
Gridley, who hit leadoff in high school for a couple of years, enjoyed being back.
“I know I’ve never hit there here, but I feel good, I feel like I get a lot more fastballs there,” Gridley said. “I can set the tone for the game.”
McQuary settling in
Starting pitching during a SEC weekend is still a new task to Denver McQuary. First innings like his on Friday show that he’s still learning.
In this case, it took him one inning to learn.
The first three batters McQuary pitched to reached base; the fourth drove in a run and the fifth drove in two more with a double. From there, he retired 11 straight Tigers and ultimately made it through 5 2/3 innings.
“I slowed everything down,” McQuary said. “I hit the very first batter and at that moment I kind of pushed myself, and that’s not how you need to do it. I sped myself up.”
He added things got better when he reminded himself of what pitching coach Gary Henderson tells him often: “Your stuff is good enough, go in there with confidence.”
For McQuary in his three starts, quality of pitch has not been the issue; it’s been the location. In the past, it was not uncommon for McQuary to be limited to just two of his five-pitch arsenal due to location on a given day. When mcQuary got hot it was because he had four pitches.
McQuary said he threw primarily four-seam fastballs with occasional two-seamers thrown in, in addition to his changeup and his slider, which he threw more than his breaking ball.
“When I threw the slider for a strike,” McQuary said, “that got them off-balance and helped me a lot.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter, @Brett_Hudson
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.